Javier Milei swept aside an anti-nepotism law to appoint his sister to a high-ranking position - but who is she?When Javier Milei first walked into Argentina's presidential palace earlier this month, the radical libertarian leader was not accompanied by his vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, nor his partner, the actor Fatima Florez.Milei's escort at this key political moment was a woman who many analysts describe as the true power behind his throne: his sister, Karina. Continue reading...
During the final years of his life, the former Italian premier amassed thousands of mostly worthless' works from late-night shopping channels. Lucas Vianini became their curatorLucas Vianini was presenting what he described as a very suggestive" painting of a grieving Virgin Mary on a late-night shopping channel when the art expert received a call from a keen buyer.It was not uncommon to receive prank calls when presenting paintings during the live TV auctions. So when the channel's telephone operator told him that the buyer was called Silvio Berlusconi, he thought it was a joke. Continue reading...
by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media correspondent on (#6HGAF)
Archives reveal confidential letters exchanged by prime minister and SDP leader that shed light on a Kremlin espionage rowA confidential exchange of letters, released after 30 years of government secrecy, between former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and David Owen, then the leader of the the Social Democratic party (SDP), has shed new light on an enduring MI5 spy scandal.The real-life espionage drama, which began in 1983 with a mysterious Moscow death and was followed by the arrest in Britain of a would-be MI5 mole, led to a full-scale internal investigation into the security service and fuelled an escalating diplomatic feud with the Kremlin. Continue reading...
Residents say ministers have wasted six years and dodged' making plan for tower since fire claimed 72 livesResidents and bereaved families say they have been left in limbo" over the future of Grenfell Tower after a decision to award a new maintenance contract for the building until 2027.More than 100m has already been spent on tower maintenance and site management since the fire that claimed 72 lives in June 2017. Housing secretary Michael Gove is now under pressure to provide a timeline for deciding on demolition. Continue reading...
Displays expected in cities across country to ring in 2024 while predicted wild weather on east coast could disrupt revelryHeat and hail have been forecast across parts of the country as hundreds queue outside the Sydney Opera House to secure front-row seats for the New Year's Eve fireworks.Lines in Circular Quay began to form at 8am on Sunday as people sought to stake their claim to a view. By 11.24am, organisers announced the Sydney Opera House vantage point is full and advised members of the public to seek alternative options. Continue reading...
It's hot. It's just hot', says Wendy McWhirter Brooks a resident of the remote Western Australian town of Marble BarThere will be no fireworks in Marble Bar as residents of the hottest town in Australia" sweat through a scorching New Year's Eve.The mercury in the remote Western Australian towns of Marble Bar and Roebourne were expected to reach 48C on Sunday, with top temperatures expected to stay above 40C for the next six days. Continue reading...
An escalation could spark a conflagration that would bring Israel into open confrontation with Iran, and suck in the US tooThe Middle East has been slipping towards the precipice of a regional war ever since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October and the ferocious Israeli response in Gaza. The past week has shown how the cliff edge keeping it from that abyss could quickly crumble away.Within hours of the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Hezbollah Shia militia in Lebanon began to fire on northern Israeli towns and villages in solidarity with Palestinians, triggering Israeli air strikes in response, and Houthi forces in Yemen attacked ships in the Red Sea with real or perceived Israeli connections. Continue reading...
Exclusive: housing association payouts over failures to fix life-threatening mould and damp average only 445Leading private providers of social housing in Britain have been made to pay out only a few hundred pounds on average in financial penalties for severely mistreating tenants, the Observer can reveal.An analysis of every decision made by the housing ombudsman, the primary regulator of social housing in Britain, shows that across the 2,907 rulings it made in the past three years, the average financial penalty for housing associations was just 445. Continue reading...
Trains, buses, trams and ferries: here's what you need to know, for your state or territoryAs revellers prepare for the trek home after New Year's Eve celebrations, most cities are offering free public transport, and more of it.Here is what you need to know, depending on your state or territory. Continue reading...
Ahmad, who fled Iran more than a decade ago, has finally been reunited with his his wife and children ... and the dog came too. Two charities proved crucialDonate to our charity appeal hereFor a dozen years after Ahmad fled Iran in fear of his life, he was sustained by his Christian faith and the hope that one day he would be reunited with his wife and two sons.Now the family is once again living under one roof - and with an additional member: a boisterous shih tzu terrier, who flew to the UK to complete the reunion. Continue reading...
Declassified files from John Major's private secretary reveal the extraordinary level of planning that goes into a handover of powerJohn and Norma Major were so resigned to a Conservative party defeat by Labour in the 1997 election that Norma discreetly" moved her clothes out of Downing Street in the weeks leading up to polling day, declassified files from the National Archives show.In an advisory note dated October 2000, Alex Allan, who had been principal private secretary to John Major and briefly to Tony Blair, wrote to Jeremy Heywood, who at the time was holding that role under Blair, advising on what ought to be done in the run-up to the next general election in 2001. Continue reading...
A historic trial, which will call on 61 witnesses worldwide, is expected to set a precedent for global corporations in foreign jurisdictionsBefore the arrival of Lundin Oil in the town of Leer, now part of South Sudan, life there was peaceful, says George Tai Kuony. His childhood was that of a typical village boy", driving cattle, helping his family and going to school. But in June 1998, when he was 15, armed forces entered the town and changed his life for ever.He fled, became separated from his family and hid for seven days before he was able to return. When we got there, Leer wasn't the town I had left seven days ago," says the 40-year-old lawyer and human rights defender. Everything was burned down, everything was destroyed. I could see the bodies of dead people lying in the street." As a result of the conflict, he lost his father, and later his mother and one sibling. Continue reading...
by Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent on (#6HG8E)
Beijing steps up its efforts to tighten control of what is taught in its classrooms, deterring western teachers from working in the countryA new patriotic" education law is set to put a squeeze on British schools in China as Beijing steps up its efforts to tighten control of what is taught in its classrooms.Less than five years ago, the Chinese and British media were full of reports about the boom years" of British education in China. Elite British schools had seized the commercial opportunity of opening campuses to cater to wealthy Chinese families and the children of expats, and were opening new branches at a rapid clip. Continue reading...
Rishi Sunak told activist's sister in 2022 that government was totally committed' to resolving the caseThe family of the imprisoned British-Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah have said the British government has failed to act to free him, a year after the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, told his sister the government was totally committed to resolving your brother's case".A figurehead in Egypt's 2011 uprising, which overthrew Hosni Mubarak as president, Abd el-Fattah spent most of the past decade behind bars for his activism. He was rearrested in 2019 following a brief period out of prison but under police surveillance, and was sentenced in December 2021 to a further five years in detention for spreading false news undermining national security", after resharing a social media post about torture. Continue reading...
Tunnel under Thames near Ebbsfleet was closed not by weather, but burst pipe, with Southeastern Railway also affectedEurostar said services through the Channel tunnel would resume on Sunday but there were warnings of further delays and busy stations.Unprecedented" flooding was brought under control on Saturday, meaning at least one of the affected tunnels - under the Thames near Ebbsfleet, not under the Channel itself - could be used. Continue reading...
by Christopher Knaus and Australian Associated Press on (#6HG61)
Video shows airline staff and other passengers holding a man down after disturbance on flight on SundayFederal police are investigating after Qantas cabin crew were forced to pin down a disruptive passenger on a flight from Bali on Sunday.Video shows Qantas staff and other passengers holding the man down after a disturbance on a flight from Bali to Melbourne. Continue reading...
Two other men, thought to be Polish nationals, sustain life-threatening injuries as blaze destroys two-storey house in CroydonA third man has died after a house fire in south London, police have said.Another man sustained life-threatening injuries in the blaze that destroyed a two-storey end-of-terrace house on Friday night in Croydon, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...
Illegal use of fireworks can lead to thousands of dollars in fines and even jail. Here are the rules around the countryHefty fines and even jail time are on the cards for those who set off illegal fireworks this New Year's Eve.People right across the country used to partake in the annual cracker night" festival, setting off fireworks in their back yards, but most states and territories began banning this practice in the 1980s. Continue reading...
Shadow front bencher says Keir Starmer would not have resignation honours after appalling spectacle' of ex-prime minister rewarding cronies'Labour last night promised there would be no resignation honour's list issued by Keir Starmer if he were to become prime minister, as outrage grew over the list of peerages, knighthoods and other rewards showered by Liz Truss on those associated with her disastrous 49 days in office.Shadow leader of the House, Lucy Powell, told the Observer: The appalling spectacle of Truss rewarding her cronies for helping her crash the economy and cause mortgage misery for millions demeans politics. Continue reading...
Party historian MP Jon Cruddas questions readiness for power of leader with few ties to movement's roots or ideologyA key centre-left Labour MP says Keir Starmer appears to lack a clear sense of purpose due to his detachment from his party's traditions, and casts doubt on whether he can become one of its more successful prime ministers.In A Century of Labour, a book published to mark 100 years since the formation of the first Labour government on 22 January 1924 under Ramsay MacDonald, Jon Cruddas says that Starmer - while clearly a decent" and principled" man - remains an elusive leader, difficult to find". Continue reading...
Police launch murder investigation after stabbing on Abbey estate near St John's Wood on Friday eveningA 29-year-old man has been stabbed to death in north-west London, police said.Officers were called by the London ambulance service to the scene at the Abbey estate near St John's Wood just after 7.30pm on Friday. Continue reading...
Former prime minister is barred from standing in elections after being jailed for unlawfully selling state gifts while in officePakistan's election body has rejected former prime minister Imran Khan's nomination to contest the 2024 national elections in two constituencies, officials and his party's media team said on Saturday.The 71-year-old former cricket star has been embroiled in a tangle of political and legal battles since he was ousted as prime minister in April 2022. He has not been seen in public since he was jailed for three years in August for unlawfully selling state gifts while in office from 2018 to 2022. Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands Correspondent on (#6HFX0)
Early next year, the NatWest in the market town of Bakewell will close, leaving the whole area de-banked'It's midday on a Friday and a sizeable queue has formed inside the NatWest branch in Bakewell, the last remaining bank in the whole of the Peak District.The two staff members on duty are dealing with a stream of customers including elderly people with queries, people cashing cheques and business owners collecting change for their shops. Continue reading...
The centre - featuring the work of acclaimed artists - will be the only permanent place in Britain to learn about the history of illustrationThe work of a talented illustrator, whether Sir John Tenniel, creator of the sinister 19th-century Alice in Wonderland images, or Axel Scheffler and his scary Gruffalo, is as recognisable as the stories they have helped to tell. And while drawings once played second fiddle to the author's words, the impact of the art of illustration, both in books and on wider public platforms, is now much better understood.llustration has benefited from a challenging of hierarchies," said Olivia Ahmad, artistic director of the future Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration. For a long time it was dismissed as low' culture, but these boundaries are being shown to be false." Continue reading...
One-third of letters in some parts of the country don't arrive the next day - despite the rise in stamp pricesRoyal Mail failed in the year to September to hit its target for next-day delivery of first-class mail in every single area of United Kingdom, an analysis of performance figures by the Observer reveals.Performance results for more than 120 postal areas in the UK show that none hit the target for 93% of first-class mail to be delivered within one working day. Royal Mail has already been fined 5.6m by the regulator, Ofcom, for failing to hit its first- and second-class targets in the 2022-23 financial year. Continue reading...
Jobcentres, doctors, employers and social workers will be encouraged to suggest therapy and life coachingLife coaches and running clubs will be recommended to those on long-term sickness leave under government plans to get people back to work.Ministers are to launch a scheme to help reduce the numbers signed off sick in England. There are 2.2 million people claiming universal credit with no work requirements. The number of workers taking sick leave has hit a 10-year high. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#6HFS7)
More than 33,500 videos sent to police in England and Wales in year to November, up 30% on 2022Dangerous drivers are being caught on camera and shopped to the police in increasing numbers, with other drivers and the general public having sent more than 100,000 video reports to UK police forces.The number of reports filed in 2023 increased by 30% compared with the previous year, with more than 33,500 videos submitted to police via the National Dash Cam Safety Portal until the end of November. Continue reading...
Russia's pro-Palestinian stance has inflamed tensions and underscored shift in relations since invasion of UkraineWhen Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone this month to Benjamin Netanyahu, their first conversation in weeks, the two leaders found themselves in an unusual dynamic, engaging not as partners but against the backdrop of historic tensions.Once touting their friendly relationship - Netanyahu has used billboards showing himself next to Putin during election campaigning in Israel, even last year - the events of 7 October and Russia's pro-Palestinian stance in the aftermath have brought a decisive schism in their ties. Continue reading...
Outcome of election scheduled for 13 January could lead to vastly different scenarios with Beijing next yearTaiwan's election on 13 January is the first of more than 40 national elections to be held around the world in 2024. It will determine the presidency and legislature governing 23.5 million people on an island that is similar in size to Belgium. But it has major implications for the world.There are a host of issues for Taiwan's voters, including the cost of living, housing and labour rights, energy, education, and elderly care. Taiwan has an ageing population and there is a significant wealth gap, with low minimum wages. The domestic campaign so far has seen standard cross-party sniping over competing promises, accusations of misconduct and corruption, and endless scandals ranging from allegedly plagiarised theses to charges of secret second nationalities. Continue reading...
by Pamela Duncan, Carmen Aguilar García and Philip M on (#6HFR7)
I have limited rizz' said an actor while Barbenheimer refers to the year's most talked about filmsHallucination, Barbenheimer and acabo were among the new and breakthrough words of 2023, according to an analysis of the Guardian archive. And do you have rizz"?Dozens of new words appeared on the newspaper's pages this year. And while the majority of these relate to people and placenames previously unrecorded on the news pages, some words were truly newly minted. Continue reading...
Addiction experts urge state to promote month of abstinence but alcohol lobby says idea is out of step with French cultureDry January is at the centre of a political row in France after more than 45 professors of addiction studies signed a letter urging the state to promote a month of abstinence from alcohol.A group of senior academics and doctors working on addiction have written to the French health minister to say that not enough is being done by the state to campaign on alcohol risks, and the government should support an alcohol-free month at the start of the year. Continue reading...
by Australian Associated Press and Mostafa Rachwani a on (#6HFP6)
Several waves of thunderstorms batter state as thousands in region remain without powerTwo people have been hospitalised after their vehicles were struck by lightning in two separate incidents in Queensland on Saturday, as severe thunderstorms return to the south-east of the state.Queensland Ambulance said one man was transported to Caboolture hospital - between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast - in a stable condition after the vehicle he was travelling in was reportedly struck by lightening while on the Bruce highway at about 9.20am. Continue reading...
Conditions 8C to 12C above average across large parts of Australia's north, with little reprieve for storm-ravaged areasA severe heatwave is expected to affect parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia heading into the new year.Large swathes have been put on alert, with conditions 8C to 12C above average. Continue reading...
At least 30 killed and 160 wounded across Ukraine in what Kyiv calls biggest Russian air attack of war; Poland claims Russian missile entered its airspaceRussia launched a huge wave of missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, including the capital, in what Ukraine's defence minister called the biggest air attack of the war. At least 30 civilians were killed and 160 injured in the strikes on residential buildings in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and other cities in the west and south on Friday morning. A shopping centre and maternity hospital were hit in the central city of Dnipro, Ukrainian officials said. In Odesa, three people were killed and another 26 injured, including two children and a pregnant woman, when three rockets hit residential buildings. Rescue operations were continuing in the cities.The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 87 cruise missiles and 27 drones of a total 158 aerial targets" fired by Russia. Kyiv's defence minister, Rustem Umerov, said it was the most massive air attack of this war", which began in February 2022, and involved 18 strategic bombers. The army chief, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said infrastructure and industrial and military facilities had been targeted.Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia launched about 110 missiles in the attack. Today, Russia used nearly every type of weapon in its arsenal," the Ukrainian president said on social media. Russian terror must and will lose."Poland's armed forces said an unknown airborne object, which they identified as a Russian missile, entered the country's airspace from the direction of Ukraine for less than three minutes. It was monitored by us on radars and left the airspace," said Poland's defence chief, Gen Wiesaw Kukua. The object penetrated about 40km (25 miles), Poland said, adding that Nato radar also confirmed the object left Polish airspace. The Russian charge d'affaires, summoned to the Polish foreign ministry, said Warsaw had provided no evidence of a missile entering its airspace.At a hastily convened meeting of the UN security council, most council members - including the US, France and Britain - condemned the attacks. Tragically, 2023 is ending as it began, with devastating violence against the people of Ukraine," UN assistant secretary general Khaled Khiari said after briefing the council on the attacks.Britain will send about 200 air-defence missiles to Ukraine after the Russian strikes, the UK defence minister said on Friday. Grant Shapps posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Britain was moving rapidly to bolster Ukraine's air defence in the wake of Putin's murderous airstrikes". The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said on social media: These widespread attacks on Ukraine's cities show Putin will stop at nothing to achieve his aim of eradicating freedom and democracy."A Ukrainian strike on a residential building in the Russian city of Belgorod left one person dead, the regional governor said late on Friday. The attack killed one person and wounded four others, Vyacheslav Gladkov said, adding that the city's water supply system was damaged. The Russian defence ministry said air defence systems destroyed a total of 13 missiles over the region, which borders Ukraine.The US president, Joe Biden, demanded Congress step up" and overcome divisions on sending aid to Ukraine, saying the massive Russian air attack demonstrated that the Kremlin hoped to obliterate" the pro-western country. Biden said in a statement: Unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people. Congress must step up and act without any further delay."Ukrainian officials urged the country's western allies to provide it with more air defences to protect itself against aerial attacks such as Friday's. Their appeals have come as signs of war fatigue strain efforts to keep support in place.Russia has suffered huge human and material losses in Ukraine and its army will emerge weakened from the conflict, a senior German military figure said in an interview published on Friday. Christian Freuding, who oversees the German army's support for Kyiv, said: The Russian armed forces will emerge from this war weakened, both materially and in terms of personnel." Continue reading...
Wiseman, who has died at the age of 33, represented England and Great Britain's deaf women's teamsTributes have been paid to former Team GB footballer Gemma Wiseman after her death at the age of 33.Wiseman represented England and Great Britain's deaf women's teams and helped guide GB to third place at the 2016 World Deaf Football Championships.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...
Hassan Jhangur, 23, has been charged with the murder of man who was helping unconscious woman when he was hit by a carHassan Jhangur, 23, has been charged with the murder of Chris Marriott who was hit by a car after he went to the aid of an unconscious woman in Sheffield on Wednesday, South Yorkshire police have said.Earlier, Marriott's family said the circumstances of his death show the sort of man he was". Continue reading...
Bestselling author and journalist is incredibly bowled over' to receive DBEJilly Cooper has been given a damehood in the new year honours list for her services to literature and charity.The 86-year-old bestselling author and journalist who was awarded a DBE said she was delighted, bewildered and ecstatic", although for one who counts Rishi Sunak among her fans, the honour should perhaps not be that much of a surprise. Continue reading...
Keir Starmer will offer voters change - but how much is deliverable when public services are in a parlous state?Keir Starmer will obviously want to fight the coming year's election promising change and enthusing voters with his bright ideas - but just how much will the public be expecting him to transform the UK? And how much is actually deliverable in one term when infrastructure and services are in such a parlous state?Promising sunlit uplands and 350m a week for the NHS worked for the leave campaign in the Brexit referendum, appealing to hearts over heads. Boris Johnson also pulled off a campaign of blind optimism in 2019 promising 40 more hospitals and not to raise the rate of national insurance. Continue reading...
Ousted prime minister allowed a resignation honours list despite lasting just 49 days in Downing StreetOusted prime minister Liz Truss has been allowed to confer a host of honours and three new peerages - including for one of the architects of Brexit, for a Tory donor and for her former deputy chief of staff.Truss was granted a resignation honours" list by Rishi Sunak, despite having to resign from No 10 after only 49 days because of turmoil in the financial markets caused by her chancellor's mini-budget. Continue reading...
Far-right president says not opportune' for Argentina - which had been set to become a member on 1 January - to be part of allianceArgentina has formally announced that it will not join the Brics bloc of developing economies, the latest in a dramatic shift in foreign and economic policy by Argentina's new far-right populist president, Javier Milei.In a letter addressed to the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - all members of the alliance - Milei said the moment was not opportune" for Argentina to join as a full member. The letter was dated a week ago, 22 December, but released by the Argentinian government on Friday, the last working day of 2023. Continue reading...
Bury North MP James Daly makes remark while outlining what New Conservatives group stands forA Conservative MP has claimed most children who struggle in his constituency are the products of crap parents".James Daly, the MP for Bury North, was outlining what the New Conservatives group of MPs stood for when he presented his perspective on how important a family unit is in giving children stability". Continue reading...
While a handful of politicians have openly discussed the stresses of their job, the scale of the problem appears far greaterIt was a year after they were made a minister when the MP had the second breakdown of their political career, and realised they simply had no idea what to do next: I was so terrified. I didn't know who to talk to. There didn't seem to be anybody I could trust.A family member told me to take time off. But as a minister if you were to say you needed time off sick, the whips would go, Yeah, fine. We'll get someone else to do your job.' It's often easier to keep your head down and pretend." Continue reading...
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